Gambling News

"The Web: New Rules for Online Gambling"

Most online casino operators will welcome government regulation of online gambling. With the recent World Trade Organization’s ruling, which permits the U.S. government to regulate Internet gambling, the WTO has tacitly ruled that Internet gambling is legal under international law. This, of course, will make more and more people view online gambling as a legitimate activity. The recent passage of the Gaming Law in the United Kingdom, which created a new commission to police the Internet gaming, will also add to the industry’s legitimacy.

Government regulation of online gambling is a welcome intervention for most online casino operators, completely contrary to what many have assumed. For the most part, online gaming businesses expect that the new rules and governing bodies for online gaming will actually assist online gambling’s already phenomenal growth.

The U.S. wants to be able to regulate online gambling because U.S. government officials fear that offshore betting sites may become a haven for money laundering activities or fraud, or could be overtaken by organized crime.

The WTO ruling, which states that governments have the right to regulate online gambling in order to preserve the public order and to preserve public morals, will enable governments to prevent these types of developments as well as force governments to implement more straightforward, clear-cut regulations of the industry. U.S. government regulation of gambling is not without precedent, having had a historical role in regulating gambling on riverboats and land-based casinos.

While the majority of online casino businesses will welcome new regulations, some online casino operators don’t like the changes they may cause. Dennis Rose, president of Casino Fortune, one of the top three online casinos in the world, voiced his concern that the government will now start treating online gambling business as if it was the center of organized crime, instead of being the relaxing, diversionary activity it really is.

Now Casino Fortune, which is already a major online casino operator, is looking to expand still further by getting into the skilled wagering business. Skilled gaming is different from gambling in that it is regulated on a state-by-state basis and the player’s skill, not his luck, determines the outcome. In contrast to the gambling sites where players bet on games of chance such as poker, craps, etc., skilled wagering sites allow players to bet on games of skill, like chess or solitaire.

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